Kitanonada Noboru (February 1, 1923 – January 8, 2002), born Noboru Ogata, was a

sumo is a form of competitive full-contact wrestling where a ''rikishi'' (wrestler) attempts to force his opponent out of a circular ring (''dohyō'') or into touching the ground with any body part other than the soles of his feet (usually by th ...

wrestler from

Abashiri, Hokkaido is a city located in Okhotsk Subprefecture, Hokkaido, Japan. Abashiri is known as the site of the Abashiri Prison, a Meiji-era facility used for the incarceration of political prisoners. The old prison has been turned into a museum, but the ...

, Japan. His highest rank was ''

sekiwake , or , is the top division of the six divisions of professional sumo. Its size is fixed at 42 wrestlers ('' rikishi''), ordered into five ranks according to their ability as defined by their performance in previous tournaments. This is the o ...

.'' He was ranked in the top ''

makuuchi , or , is the top division of Professional sumo divisions, the six divisions of professional sumo. Its size is fixed at 42 wrestlers (''rikishi''), ordered into five ranks according to their ability as defined by their performance in previous ...

'' division from 1950 until 1962 and earned ten gold stars for defeating ''

yokozuna , or , is the top division of the six divisions of professional sumo. Its size is fixed at 42 wrestlers ('' rikishi''), ordered into five ranks according to their ability as defined by their performance in previous tournaments. This is the o ...

.'' After his retirement from active competition he was an elder of the

Japan Sumo Association The , officially the ; sometimes abbreviated JSA or NSK, and more usually called Sumo Kyōkai, is the governing body that operates and controls Professional sports, professional sumo wrestling, called , in Japan under the jurisdiction of the Min ...

and worked as a coach at

Tatsunami stable is a stable of sumo wrestlers, formerly the head of the Tatsunami ''ichimon'' or group of stables. As of January 2023 it had 20 wrestlers. Previously situated in sumo's heartland of Ryōgoku nearby the Kokugikan stadium, it briefly moved in ...

until his mandatory retirement in 1988 upon reaching 65 years of age. He then became a sumo TV commentator.

Career

He was born in 1923 as Noboru Ogata in

, the second son of owners of a popular local restaurant. His older brother died in an accident at elementary school, and he became a much shyer personality after that tragedy. An acquaintance had connections to ''

Asahigawa is a city in Kamikawa Subprefecture, Hokkaido, Japan. It is the capital of the subprefecture, and the second-largest city in Hokkaido, after Sapporo. It has been a core city since April 1, 2000. The city is currently well known for the Asahiyam ...

, and Ogata was also an admirer of

Futabayama was a Japanese professional sumo wrestler from Oita Prefecture. Entering sumo in 1927, he was the sport's 35th ''Yokozuna (sumo), yokozuna'' from 1937 until his retirement in 1945. He won twelve ''yūshō'' or top division championships and had ...

. Both were members of the

, and so in January 1939 Ogata applied to join. He was turned down due to a lack of weight, with the coach who conducted the examination suggesting he might be better off as a ''

tokoyama A is a traditional Japanese hairdresser specializing in the theatrical arts (kabuki and ) and Sumo#Professional sumo, professional sumo. The trade is the result of a slow evolution from the traditional Japanese barbers of the Edo period, some ...

'' (sumo hairdresser). However, Ogata was determined to become a sumo wrestler, and successfully passed the physical examination a year later. Making his professional debut in January 1940, and managing to avoid being called up for war service, he rose slowly up the ranks. He reached the second highest ''

juryo Professional sumo as administered by the Japan Sumo Association is divided into six ranked divisions. Wrestlers are promoted and demoted within and between these divisions based on the merit of their win–loss records in official tournaments. Fo ...

'' division in October 1948 and the top ''

'' division in September 1950. He made his debut in the ''

sanyaku The following words are terms used in sumo wrestling in Japan. A B C D E F G H ...

'' ranks at ''

komusubi , or , is the top division of the six divisions of professional sumo. Its size is fixed at 42 wrestlers ('' rikishi''), ordered into five ranks according to their ability as defined by their performance in previous tournaments. This is the o ...

'' in September 1954. He was runner-up in the March 1957 tournament with a 12–3 record. His highest rank was ''sekiwake,'' which he reached in November 1957 at the age of 35. He earned ten special prizes for achievements in tournaments and ten ''

kinboshi is a notation used in professional sumo is a form of competitive full-contact wrestling where a ''rikishi'' (wrestler) attempts to force his opponent out of a circular ring (''dohyō'') or into touching the ground with any body part oth ...

'', or gold stars, for defeating ''

.'' His ''kinboshi'' were earned against six different ''yokozuna'':

Azumafuji was a Japanese professional sumo wrestler from Taitō, Tokyo. He was the sport's 40th ''yokozuna'', and later a professional wrestler. Sumo career Azumafuji's real name was . He made professional debut in January 1936, joining Takasago stab ...

Yoshibayama , real name , was a Japanese professional sumo wrestler from Atsuta District, Hokkaido. He was the sport's 43rd ''yokozuna''. He suffered a number of injuries and only won one tournament championship, but was a popular wrestler. He was a runner ...

(twice),

Tochinishiki was a Japanese professional sumo wrestler from Tokyo. He was the sport's 44th ''makuuchi#Yokozuna, yokozuna''. He won ten top division ''yūshō'' or tournament championships and was a rival of fellow ''yokozuna'' Wakanohana Kanji I, Wakanohana ...

(twice),

Chiyonoyama was a Japanese professional sumo wrestler from Fukushima, Hokkaidō. He was the sport's 41st ''yokozuna'' from 1951 until 1959. He is regarded as the first "modern" ''yokozuna'' in that he was promoted by the Japan Sumo Association itself and n ...

, Wakanohana and Asashio (three times). He defeated Tochinishiki on the opening day of the September 1958 tournament, a match which became notorious after the

referee A referee is an official, in a variety of sports and competition, responsible for enforcing the rules of the sport, including sportsmanship decisions such as ejection. The official tasked with this job may be known by a variety of other title ...

initially awarded the bout to Tochinishiki and then argued with the

judges A judge is an official who presides over a court. Judge or Judges may also refer to: Roles *Judge, an alternative name for an adjudicator in a competition in theatre, music, sport, etc. *Judge, an alternative name/aviator call sign for a membe ...

for ten minutes after they reversed his decision, leading to the referee's suspension for the rest of the tournament. His final win over a ''yokozuna'' was in May 1961 at the age of 38 years, three months, making him the oldest post-war wrestler ever to earn a ''kinboshi''.

Fighting style

He was known as "white lightning" because of his powerful ''

tachi-ai The is the initial charge between two sumo wrestlers at the beginning of a bout. It is a combination of two Japanese words that mean “stand” and “meet”. There are several common techniques that wrestlers use at the tachi-ai, with the a ...

'' and the speed and ferocity of his bouts. His most common winning ''

kimarite is the technique used in sumo by a (wrestler) to win a match. It is officially decided or announced by the (referee) at the end of the match, though judge (sumo), judges can modify this decision. The records of are then kept for statistical ...

,'' or techniques, were ''yori-kiri'' (force out), ''yori-taoshi'' (force out and down), and ''uwate-nage'' (overarm throw).

Retirement from sumo

He retired in March 1962, after facing demotion to the ''juryo'' division. At 39 years and one month he was one of the oldest ever postwar ''

sekitori A ''sekitori'' (関取) is a '' rikishi'' (力士, sumo wrestler) who is ranked in one of the top two professional divisions: '' makuuchi'' and '' jūryō''. The name literally translates to having taken the barrier, as only a relatively small fr ...

.'' He had fought in 77 career tournaments, 52 in the top division, where his winning percentage was .487 (368 wins against 388 losses). He became an elder of the

under the name Takekuma. He worked as a coach at his old stable and was also on the board of Directors of the Sumo Association from 1978 to 1982. When ''yokozuna'' Futahaguro had a heated row with his stablemaster, ex-''sekiwake'' Annenyama, in December 1987, storming out of the stable and pushing his stablemaster's wife out of the way, it was Takekuma who tried unsuccessfully to persuade Futahaguro to return and apologize. Futahaguro was forced to retire in disgrace. Takekuma retired from the Sumo Association himself shortly afterwards at the end of January 1988, having reached the mandatory retirement age of 65. He passed on the Takekuma elder name to former ''sekiwake'' Kurohimeyama, who had become his son-in-law. Upon leaving the Sumo Association he became a TV commentator for

NHK , also known by its Romanization of Japanese, romanized initialism NHK, is a Japanese public broadcasting, public broadcaster. It is a statutory corporation funded by viewers' payments of a television licence, television license fee. NHK ope ...

's sumo coverage. His last appearance was in 2000, and he suffered a

stroke Stroke is a medical condition in which poor cerebral circulation, blood flow to a part of the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: brain ischemia, ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and intracranial hemorrhage, hemor ...

in March 2001. He died in 2002 at the age of 78 in a hospital in Tochigi, from

cerebral thrombosis A thrombus ( thrombi) is a solid or semisolid aggregate from constituents of the blood (platelets, fibrin, red blood cells, white blood cells) within the circulatory system during life. A blood clot is the final product of the blood coagulatio ...

Career record

Modern sumo record

*''Since the addition of the Kyushu tournament in 1957 and the Nagoya tournament in 1958, the yearly schedule has remained unchanged.'' 　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　

References